Can You Smile
by Sweetatoo
Summary: He tries to get her to smile, but it has never worked. Then, a miracle happens...


He tried to get her to smile.

So far, it never worked out.

The best that he could have gotten from her was a smirk, a sarcastic smirk at that. Not even a genuine, truly happy one, but one that contained unsolvable secret and judgment. He saw girls smiling all the time. She's a girl too, wasn't she? So how come she never broke out a smile? Not even once? What's wrong with that witch?

That simple question had been bothering him ever since he realized he was feeling a bit differently about his partner in crime. There was certainly something about her that made him question his sanity, his personality, his way of life, even his way of thinking. Never before had he been in this kind of dilemma. And she made him smile once. Just once, when she said that she would never desert him. He didn't know why, but that made him smile. Now, it was her turn to smile.

It never worked. No matter what he said or did. She never allowed more than a smirk on her face. It irritated him, honestly. He remembered this one time when a random cat stole his mask, ready to expose his sacred secret. It was such a hilarious situation, yet she only smirked mockingly at his attempts to retrieve said mask. It truly annoyed him.

"How come you never smile, C.C.?" asked Lelouch one night when she was lying on the bed, simply staring at the white marble ceiling above, and he was at his desk working on his master plan.

It didn't take her long to respond. "Smiles are for the weak" was her answer. He cocked his eyebrow, awaiting her elaboration but it never came.

After a while, he gave up trying and decided that the witch was incapable of making a variety of facial expressions.

Then…

"I don't think-"

"No, take it." Rivalz was laughing as he shoved a bottle of champagne into his friend's arm. "You will nev-" He hiccupped, laughed, then continued. "Never know when it'll come in handy." The blue-haired teen had a brightest, widest smile that Lelouch had ever seen on his face. The former was waving his arm around and pushing the bottle into the latter's arms.

"Come on, Rivalz. It's time to go home," laughed Suzaku lightly. He winked at Lelouch as he put an arm on Rivalz's shoulder. "You'd better take that, Lelouch. You didn't drink at all throughout the party."

"I don't drink," said Lelouch in all seriousness.

"I know, but just keep it as a…" The brown-haired teen looked deep in thoughts before resuming his sentence. "As a souvenir." He grinned at his wise choice of words.

Lelouch uttered a sigh before nodding his head. "I guess that doesn't hurt." Glancing toward Rivalz, who was about to pass out in any second, Lelouch said, "Make sure you get him home safely."

"Aye, Captain." The way Suzaku said it, along with his salute and a huge grin on his face, Lelouch's belief that the guy was senselessly drunk had been confirmed. But he knew they would get home safely because this was Suzaku they're talking about. Simple as that.

When Lelouch got back to his place, everyone was sleeping. Walking quietly to his room so to not wake up his sister, Lelouch gently opened the door, stepped in, and soundlessly closed it.

The witch was taking over his bed as usual. He ruffled his soft, raven hair, sighing, and put the bottle down onto his desk. Too tired to change, Lelouch simply shook off his jacket, so he was only wearing a white shirt and black pants, then quickly fell down onto the futon that he had just hastily made. Sleep quickly welcomed him as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Never before had Lelouch overslept. He almost went crazy the next morning when he realized he only had approximately fifteen minutes to get ready and sprint toward school before first period started. Everything was a blur that morning that he didn't have enough time to register the fact that the witch woke up before him, studied his action with those lazy cat-like eyes, and eyed the bottle atop his desk.

It was a long day for Lelouch.

He came back home that evening and found his sister happily folding origami with Sayoko. He went over to kiss her forehead, had a short chat with her before leaving the two women to attend to their task. He went upstairs while loosening the collar of his shirt.

As soon as he opened the door to his bedroom, an unfamiliar sound hit his ears.

"Welcome home, Prince of Britannia."

His eyes slowly moved toward the source. His jaw fell slightly. His fingers wrapping around the bag's handle slightly uncurled, and his eyes widened a bit.

C.C. was sitting seductively on his bed. She was clad in only his shirt and underwear. Her long, slender legs drew up so that her chin was resting on her knees, and she was facing him. Her cheeks had a color of hot pink, so visible against her pale complexion. Her long, lime hair cascaded down and formed a beautiful curtain around her delicate frame. In her hand was a plastic cup, and on the bed lied an empty bottle. A very familiar bottle.

Lelouch's bag fell to the floor.

"C.C… You… You drank the whole bottle?" He swallowed.

She pushed one leg back in an effort to move forward. However, she was trying to push back against a foamy, solid-less ground, and clearly she was drunk. And apparently, there was still some liquid left in her cup because he could see it sloshing around as she tried to move toward him.

"Be careful!" Lelouch reached out and grabbed her hand, the one holding the cup. Suddenly, she lost balance and fell into him. Reflex hit; he pulled her closer. His hand grabbing hers squeezed a bit tighter as he tried to steady the cup to prevent it from spilling. Then, he realized how close they were. This was the very first time that they had ever gotten this close, physically.

C.C. laughed. _Laughed_. Lelouch's eyes widened.

"Oh, there's still some left in here. See?" She stirred, but he kept her still. Her wrist moved about weakly in his strong grip. "Join me, Lelouch," she was saying.

He could smell a faint scent of vanilla emitting from her long and shiny hair. It was overwhelming and delicious. His other arm automatically travelled down to her slender waist and stayed there. C.C.'s free hand came to rest on his chest. Her head was nesting in the crook of his neck.

"I don't drink, C.C.," he spoke gently.

Everything was quiet, save for their uneven breathing and the beating of their hearts.

"You know," she began. Her voice wasn't in its usual sharp and sarcastic state. Instead, it was pure and innocent and, maybe a bit naïve, too? "Sometimes, I hate you. Sometimes, I just want to run away. Far away from you…"

He looked taken aback. His reflex was that his arm around her tightened as if he were afraid she would evaporate right then and there.

"Why?" he whispered.

"You make me feel. You broke my protection, the thing around my heart… You penetrated it, and I hate you for it."

He didn't say anything.

"Lelouch, why? You, out of all people, why did I fall for you?"

He squeezed her hand tighter.

"I hate her too…"

"Who?"

"Shirley."

"Why?"

"Because you love her. Don't lie. I know it. You… I saw your face when you erased her memory. Whenever you talk to her, you look… happy. And then… there's this one time when I asked you…" She trailed off.

Afraid that she would fall asleep, Lelouch quickly pressed. "Asked me what, C.C.?"

"If you loved her. It took you forever to reply. That's when I knew…"

"You don't know anything, silly witch." He smirked to himself, knowing that she couldn't see it.

"What?"

"Sometimes, I ask myself who I like more. You or her? You or other girl? And then more you or her, but the answer is always the same."

He kissed the top of her head. "It always comes back to you."

"I hate you…"

"I don't deserve you, C.C., but my feelings will never change."

Slowly, C.C. pulled herself away slightly, just enough to be able to look into those beautiful, deep, and mesmerizing violet eyes of the man that she had fallen for. Then, a miracle happened…

She smiled.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Code Geass.

**A/N: **It's been a while since I uploaded anything, so here's just a little short one-shot. I hope you enjoyed it :)) Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated!


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